Unpleasant Surprise

Be forewarned, the following post is not for the squeamish. (What in the world are you about read?) I'll tell you, it has to do with my kitchen. In order for this to really make sense I have to fill you in on the fact that I very rarely use my microwave. I will use it on the rare occasion I need to defrost something in a hurry or warm up a drink that has cooled off too much.

I was cleaning the kitchen the other night, and as I wiped down the counter tops I noticed some grimy fingerprints on the front of the microwave. Some people, obviously, are messy cooks around here. I wiped down the front of the microwave, the digital keypad and the button to open the door. I figured if the outside was dirty that surely the inside could use a little wipe down as well. I was not prepared for what I saw inside. Oh my, it looked like a kill room from Dexter. If you are not familiar with the show, Dexter, the main character is a serial killer, enough said. I would be lying if I said I wasn't slightly disgusted.

After school snacks. Chili. Ravioli. Soup. Pot pies. Oatmeal. You name it, it was not so carefully spattered on all four sides and especially the roof of that microwave. Nasty. I tried to remember the last time I had cleaned the microwave. It had been at least a week and I was staring at the proof that no one covered a bowl or cleaned up a mess in a while. Apparently we need to have a little family meeting about using the microwave and wiping down the inside will be added to the daily chore list.

Luckily for me, I learned of a super easy way to clean the microwave last year. Rather than scrubbing I steamed it clean. I added some baking soda to a bowl of water plus and I like to add a couple drops of essential oils (tea tree which is a natural disinfectant and lemon just because it smells nice and fresh) and 'cooked' it for three minutes. Afterwards, I effortlessly wiped everything down with a warm dishrag. I should have let the kids do it but they were already in bed.

So, lesson learned. My kids use the microwave because it's quick and easy when they don't feel like really cooking something, so there's really no surprise that it's too much effort *rolls eyes* to clean up any messes they leave behind. They are officially busted though, no more microwave messes.